Prosthetic dentistry



P 4, 1929; I E. A. THAYER 1,729,461 w PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY Original Filed June 27. 1921 M72252 I ,622665. 7W6?" Patented Sept. 24, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE EUGENE A. THAYEB, 0F ALTON, ILLINOIS PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY Original application filed June 27, 1921, Serial No. 480,784. Divided and this application filed June 6,

This application is a division of my co pending application Serial No. 480,784, filed June 27, 1921.

The invention relates to an improvement in prosthetic dentistry, and has for its primary object the provision of an improved method of assembling either full or partial dentures of plates of false teeth for use by dentists to facilitate articulating the teeth in assembling a set or partial set as a unit.

A further object of the invention is the provision, as an article of manufacture, of an improved holder that is adapted to receive and retain a set or partial set of false teeth, which may be assembled by the maker or manufacturer and furnished to dentists and laboratories who make false teeth for application to the mouths of patients, whereby the workman making up a denture may apply the set or partial set of teeth on the holder to the permanent base plate of the denture as a unit.

Heretofore, it has been the practice in prosthetic dentistry for the manufacturer of porcelain and other types of false teeth to furnish the teeth in assemblages, usually on flat strips of wax or analogous material. When a mouth is to be fitted with a denture or partial denture, it is the practice for the operator to mold wax over the model or outline of the mouth and gums to restore the original form of the gums, and to accomplish this result there is generally a ridge of wax built around the ridge of the jaw, whether it be the upper or lower aw that is being provided with the denture. When this ridge of wax is thus formed, restoring the original outline as nearly as possible of the jaw and gum, it has been the practice for the dentist or operator to take teeth individually from the wax carrier and to insert them, one at a time, in the ridge of wax, the process requiring infinite care in or der to see that the teeth are properly articulated in the wax, each tooth. being thus handled individually in order that the resulting formation of teeth may be in as nearly as possible an exact replica of the normal position of the teeth in the mouth of the individual, as formed by nature.

The present invention relates to means for use in prosthetic dentistry for insuring the Serial No. 283,251.

correct placement of the false teeth on the wax mold forthe mouth and the resulting steps in the formation of a plaster cast and the subsequent formation of a retaining plate of vulcanizable or sii'nilar material as hereinafter described.

It will be understood, of course, that it is the intention of correct prosthetic dentistry to position each tooth in the carrier or holder so that it will. be in its normal articulate position, so that each tooth will meet properly the corresponding tooth in the opposing jaw, whether it be the natural tooth or the tooth of a plate.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved holder for teeth to be used by dentists and operators in laboratory work in assen'lbling teeth in prosthetic dentistry.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following descriptionof the pro-- ferred embodiment of my invention which is also illustrated in the drawing which forms a part of the specification, the novel features of my invention being finally set forth more specifically in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of upper and lower dentures, respectively, secured to my improved holder.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of one of the denture holders with the teeth removed therefrom.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of one of the denture holders with theteeth removed therefrom.

Fig. 4 is a detail of one of the teeth showing anchoring lugs thereon.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of my improved denture holder.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the drawings.

Reference characters 10 and 11 indicate holders for dentures for the upper and lower jaws respectively, and may be made of any suitable non-metallic pliable binder material such as vulcanizable rubber, gutta percha or the like.

Reference character 12 indicates the teeth of the denture and 13 indicates the sockets in the holders having the teeth removed therefrom. 14 are lugs carried by the inner faces of the front teeth and are for the purpose of anchoring the teeth in the holder.

In using my improved holder with the teeth assembled as in Fig. 1, which is the preferred form or arrangement in which they come to the dentist or workman from. the mamifacturer, and are then in normal form and arranged to properly articulate the upper and lower teeth, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that all that is necessary is to secure the holders by wax or analogous material to their respective wax bases in their proper positions for normal articulation on the upper and lower models of the patients mouth.

After this is done the wax is smoothed by the workman, the models with the dentures secured in place are taken from the articulater and flasked in accordance with the usual practice, after which the flasks are heated and separated so that the wax may be removed, leaving the holder and the teeth embedded in the plaster of the flask, after which the material for forming the permanent plate body may be introduced into the mold to take the place of the material removed, thus incorporating the material of the holder into the permanent plate body, or, if desired, the material of the holder also may be removed, leaving only the teeth embedded in the plaster of the flask, after which the material for forming the permanent plate may be introduced into the mold to take the place of the wax and material of the holder which has been removed.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the holder is made of vulcanizable rubber, gutta percha or the like, and the lugs or posts 1& of the false teeth are embedded in the front portion 15 of the holder and the eight back teeth, four on either side of the front teeth, are embedded in the side portions 16 of the holder, the faces of which lie at right angles to the front face 15, the teeth being affixed in this manner, while the material of the holder is in plastic condition.

In this form of the device also, the holder may be incorporated in the permanent plate,

and Vulcanized therein, or, if desired, the

teeth and holder may be embedded in a flask and the vulcanizable holder melted away, as described with reference to the form of holder shown in Fig. 1, after which the material of the permanent plate may be introduced and the permanent plate molded or a'lflXed to the teeth.

In other words, if desired, the holder in either the form shown in Fig. 1 or the form shown in Fig. 5, may be incorporated in the permanent plate, or may be removed, leaving the teeth embedded in the plaster of the flask.

In order that the invention may be understood I have shown the details of the invention that are preferred by me, but it is not desired to be limited to the details as herein shown except as defined in the claim, since it will be apparent that persons skilled in the art may resort to various modifications without departing from the purpose and spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

A. set-up for use in making dentures, comprising a plurality of artificial teeth arranged in predetermined curved row formation and bound together side by side by a non-metallic material capable of being incorporated into the finished vulcanite plate, said binder being pliable whereby it temporarily holds said teeth in relative positions and permits of them being relatively adjusted when the setup is used in making a complete denture, and in which the pliable binder material forms a portion of the final vulcanite plate thereof.

-In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, on this 14th day of May, A. D. 1928.

EUGENE A. THAYER.

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